Chinese military capabilities overstated: Report

Chinaâ€™s growing military might which is a subject of anxiety among its neighbours appear to be overstated and the emerging giant is still far from developing capabilities that can pose a challenge to a power like the United States, a media report here said today.

The rising military might of China is not as strong as it is thought to be, the report said analysing Chinaâ€™s indigenous military strengths and where it stands compared to military powerhouses the US and Russia.

â€œAlthough the US is making changes in response to Chinaâ€™s growing military power, experts and officials believe it will be years, if not decades, before China will be able to produce a much-feared ballistic missile capable of striking a warship or overcome weaknesses that keep it from projecting power far from its shores,â€ the report said.

In the news dispatch from Moscow, it is reported reported how China has increasingly relied on supply of fighter jets from Russia and has not been successful in developing its own despite its well known capabilities in reverse engineering and best of its efforts over the past few decades.

â€œTheyâ€™ve made remarkable progress in the development of their arms industry, but this progress shouldnâ€™t be overstated,â€ Vasily Kashin, a Beijing-based expert on Chinaâ€™s defense industry, said.

â€œThey have a long tradition of overestimating their capabilities,â€ Kashin added.

Ruslan Pukhov, the director of the Center for Analysis of Strategic Technologies and an adviser to Russiaâ€™s ministry of defense, predicted that China would need a decade to perfect a jet engine, among other key weapons technologies .

â€œChina is still dependent on us and will stay that way for some time to come,â€ he said.

The report said apart from the conflict with radical Islamism, the US views Chinaâ€™s growing military strength as the most serious potential threat to its interests around the world.

The Pentagon, in a report to the Congress this year, said that the pace and scale of Chinaâ€™s military reform â€œare broad and sweepingâ€.

The report said the Chinese military capabilities as compared to that of the US were far below in the field of submarines, anti-chip capabilities and fighter jets.

â€œThereâ€™s a tendency to talk about China as a great new military threat thatâ€™s coming,â€ said Hans M Kristensen , director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists .

But, when it comes to Chinese submarines carrying ballistic missiles, he said, â€œthey could be sitting ducksâ€.

Chinaâ€™s growing military might which is a subject of anxiety among its neighbours appear to be overstated and the emerging giant is still far from developing capabilities that can pose a challenge to a power like the United States, a media report here said today.

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US is not bordering with China. Those countries that do border with Chinese, do have reasons to worry because despite its shortcomings on a global scale, PLA (AN as well as AF) is the strongest in terms of capacity in entire Asia, leaving only India and Japan to be actually able to do something about Chinese forces to a convincingly threatening extent. The only countries that don't need to lose sleep over Chinese growth are USA and Russia, both of whom are armed to teeth and could pulverize any invasion within minutes. Rest all need to be concerned.